Christ, the Bread of Life — Mack Tomlinson

Jesus Feeds the Multitude and Walks on the Sea

John chapter 6, we will have a long reading this morning from verse 5 down through verse 40, but it's necessary for the message. John 6, beginning with verse 5. When Jesus then lifted up his eyes and saw a great company coming unto him, he said unto Philip, When shall we buy bread that these may eat?

And this he said to prove him, or to test him, to test Philip. For he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, Two hundred pennyworth of bread is not sufficient for them, that every one of them may take a little.

One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter's brother, said unto him, There is a land here that has five barley loaves and two small fish. But what are they among so many? And Jesus said, Make the men sit down.

And there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down and numbered about five thousand. And Jesus took the loaves. And when he had given thanks, he distributed them to the disciples. And the disciples to them that were sat down.

And likewise of the fishes, as much as they would. When they were filled, he said unto his disciples, Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. Therefore they gathered them together and filled twelve baskets with the fragments of the five barley loaves, which remained over and above unto them that had eaten.

Then those men, when they had seen the miracle that Jesus did, said, This is of truth, that prophet that should come into the world. When Jesus therefore perceived that they would come and take him by force to make him a king, he departed again into a mountain, himself alone.

And when evening was now come, his disciples went down under the sea and entered into a ship and went over the sea toward Capernaum. And it was now dark and Jesus was not come to them. And the sea arose by reason of a great wind that blew.

So when they had rowed about five and twenty or thirty furlongs, they see Jesus walking on the sea and drawing near unto the ship. And they were afraid. But he said unto them, It is I, be not afraid. Now let's skip forward to verse 26.

You have a great number of people after he arrives who come, verse 24 tells us, seeking for Jesus. He's gone over the crowds following behind, verse 26. Jesus answered them and said to them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, you seek me, not because you saw the miracles, but because you did eat of the loaves and were filled.

He said, You didn't come for me. You came, you were hoping for another fish fry, another free meal. Labor not for the meat that perishes, but for the meat which endures unto everlasting life, which the Son of Man shall give unto you.

For him hath God the Father sealed. Then they said unto him, What shall we do that we might work the works of God? Jesus answered and said unto them, And this is the work of God, that ye believe on him whom he hath sent.

They said therefore unto him, What sign showest thou then that we may see and believe? What dost thou work? Our Father's ate men in the wilderness, as it is written, He gave them bread from heaven to eat.

Then Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Moses did not give you that bread from heaven, but my Father giveth you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he which cometh down from heaven and giveth life unto the world.

Then said they unto him, Lord, evermore give us this bread. And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life. He that cometh to me shall never hunger. He that believeth on me shall never thirst. But I said unto you, that you also have seen me and believe not.

All that the Father giveth me shall come to me, and him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I came down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the Father's will which has sent me, that of all which he has given me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up again at the last day.

This is the will of him that sent me, that everyone who sees the Son and believes on him may have everlasting life. And I will raise him up at the last day. The Jews then murmured at him, because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven.

And they said, Is this not Jesus the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How is it then that he says, I came down from heaven? Jesus therefore said unto them, Murmur not among yourselves. No man can come to me, except the Father which has sent me draw him, and I will raise him up at the last day.

It is written in the prophets, and they shall all be taught of God. Every man therefore that hath heard and that hath learned of the Father comes unto me. Not that any man hath seen the Father, save he which is of God, he hath seen the Father.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, he that believeth on me hath everlasting life. I am that bread of life. Your fathers ate men in the wilderness and are dead. This is the bread which cometh down from heaven, that a man may eat thereof and not die.

I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, he shall live forever. And the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world. The Jews therefore strove among themselves, saying, How can this man give us his flesh to eat?

And Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. Whosoever eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood hath eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.

For my flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed. He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living Father has sent me, and I live by the Father, so he that eateth me, even he shall live by me.

The Offense of Christ’s Flesh-and-Blood Teaching

This is that bread which came down from heaven. Not as your fathers did eat men and are dead. He that eateth of this bread shall live forever. Some of the strongest, most offensive, most difficult words Jesus ever spoke to the Jews.

They heard cannibalism. And isn't it amazing, in the history of the early church, the early Christians were accused of being cannibals. Quite amazing. Here, this whole chapter, this entire chapter, is about bread.

Bread begins the topic in verse 5, and it's spoken of 22 times in the chapter, and ends at verse 58, bread. Everybody likes bread, right? Some bread is just phenomenal. I was eating with someone the other day, I forget who it was, and they waited on us, and bread came with the meal, and I said, I don't want any bread, I'm trying to cut out bread.

And then they brought my friend the bread, and I forgot how good the bread was at this place, and I said, well, I'll have one, can I have one of yours? So, bread is a necessary, and often delightful reality.

This entire chapter is about bread. It starts with a large hungry crowd who followed the Lord Jesus Christ to the other side of the Sea of Galilee. And they were wanting another free and miraculous meal.

I always remember growing up in West Texas at the Fourth of July, they'd have a big barbecue on the town square, down on the courthouse lawn, and it was phenomenal. I don't remember if it was free, Linda would probably remember, she and I grew up together, but it was this bread that was just phenomenal.

And you waited for the Fourth of July, there was nothing else in Clarendon to do all summer, except have the Fourth of July turtle race, and eat the barbecue, and then watch the rodeo. So, the barbecue spread was phenomenal.

This crowd came all the way around the lake, Jesus went on the boat across it, they came around the lake, seeking Him. And in John 4 it says, many of the Samaritans believed, not just because of the woman at the well, not just because of her testimony, but because they heard what He said as well.

Many Samaritans believed, and John 4 also says, many Galileans believed. And so there was a huge stirring in the population over the miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ. You come to chapter 6, and you have the stages set for this miraculous feeding of 5 ,000, at least.

And so Jesus sets one of His disciples up, He's going to get him. He asks him about feeding this bunch, and the disciple says, where are we going to buy bread? And finally another one steps up and says, well, there's a kid here, apparently the kid offered his lunch, five little barley loaves, two little small fish, offered it, as if that was going to feed the multitude.

Well, here's where Jesus is going. The 5 ,000 plus are getting ready to get enough bread to feed them all with 12 basketfuls left over. But you know what? That physical feeding of 5 ,000 was only the appetizer, because the entree is coming when Jesus is going to offer Himself as the bread of life, of which if anyone partakes of Him, they're going to live forever.

They're going to have eternal life. They're not going to live forever in death, and judgment, and punishment, and wrath. Everybody's going to live forever. Either eternal death, dying forever, or they're going to live with eternal life, living forever.

So bread is the theme of the chapter. Why bread here? Well, think about this. The Lord Jesus Christ was always using natural physical things to point to spiritual reality, wasn't He? Birds, fish, coins, trees, sheep, goats, buildings, the weather.

He was always using physical natural things, earthly things, to illustrate greater invisible spiritual truth. Remember His first miracle. He turns water into wine, doesn't He? To show that the new wineskin is not Israel, but is going to be His people, the church.

And to reveal that He now brings the best wine there is. The Lord Jesus Christ. The woman at the well. Two chapters later, Jesus says, He walks up there. Could I have a drink of that water? She's taken back.

Not only a Jew, but a man speaking to her. And where does He go with it? If you knew the gift of God, and who it was that was talking to you, you'd ask of Him, and He would give you living water that will spring up into everlasting life.

Water in the well, living water. Jesus heals a blind man later in John 9, who's been blind from birth, and then He declares, I am what? The light of the world. He who follows Me will not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

As long as I am in the world, Jesus said, I am the light of the world. And later, Jesus is in a situation, and He declares, I am the resurrection and the life. And what does He do? He raises Lazarus from the dead.

Well, that was the sermon first, and the illustration last. His miracles always displayed who He was and what He could do for a broken, dead world. If you're not a Christian here today, you should face the naked, open facts, and read again.

Just take one of the Gospels, and maybe the Gospel of John, and just read it at face value, and see who Jesus claimed to be, declared Himself to be, to see who He obviously was, and to see what He did.

Every unbeliever should face that. So here in John 6, in the bread miracle, the miracle of taking a little bread and feeding over 5 ,000 people. What's the Lord doing? He's revealing Himself as what? Bread.

Bread. Let's see this chapter where Jesus declares Himself to be the true bread. Now, the context is the Jews had started talking about bread. Well, Moses gave us that. Our fathers gave them that bread in the wilderness.

Which wasn't true. Moses had said, even back in Exodus, that God, the Lord, He said to Israel, the Lord gave you this bread. It wasn't Moses. Moses gave you no bread. But Jesus then says, My Father gives you the true bread.

That wasn't true bread. That was just physical, temporal, perishing bread. It wasn't the real reality, the real truth. But He said, My Father is giving you, has given the true bread. And of course, that refers back to Exodus 16, the manna in the wilderness, when God, not Moses, provided bread from Heaven.

And Jesus takes that historical, physical event of manna, wafers that tasted like honey, that they had never seen before, that came down, that appeared, and was their bread. Every day. Jesus takes that up to point where?

To Himself. It was a picture, that bread. What Jesus tells us, what Jesus does is to tell them, not about physical bread, but about true bread. So, let's look at this. Look at verse 32. And we'll see various things the Lord Jesus Christ says about the true bread.

Verse 32. Truly, truly, I say to you, Moses gave you not that bread from Heaven, but My Father gives you the what? The true bread from Heaven. The first thing He is saying here, that there is heavenly bread.

He calls it bread from Heaven. That is, it is God's bread. It is divinely sent. It's bread that is of a divine origin completely, not of an earthly origin. Sent by God Himself. Jesus affirms that several times here in this passage.

It is bread, He says, that's not from the earth, but from the heavenly realm. It is not earthly. It is alien bread that has come here from another realm that you know not of. This bread, the Lord is saying, is from another world that's not like this world.

Now, Israel had never seen that manna. They observed the first time that God did it. They had never seen it, but God sent it miraculously, supernaturally. And so, Israel also had never seen the true bread that had come down from Heaven.

But, He is now, the true bread is standing right in front of them. And they don't even see it, or realize it, or know it. Now, think of this. Think of the world's reaction if it was proven indisputably that there was true alien life, intellectual alien life out there.

And it was a fact. Think of the world's reaction. This world would go haywire. You talk about the news shifting from Trump to outer space real fast. But think of this. What if they showed up here and were seen as many movies have always tried to portray?

What if they really showed up and you saw one physically manifested before you? Guess what? It has happened. He has come from outer space. He has come from another realm. This is heavenly bread that has come.

Jesus is saying that to them. I'm from another realm, another world, another place, you know nothing of. He said this in other places. He said, you're from beneath, I'm from above. He's displaying himself as a divine, supernatural bread that God has sent down to this planet.

Heavenly bread. In verse 39, and he says this a number of times here, he says, the Father sent me. The Father sent me. The Jews murmur in verse 41. What foolishness is this? He's spouting off that he has come from heaven.

Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph? We know who he is. We know where he's come from. And Jesus replied, you don't know where I've come from. The Father sent me. I'm not from here. I'm not from here.

He is the heavenly bread. And John affirms that in the first chapter. The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us. He tabernacled among us. And we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

And then John says later, He came to His own. He came for the Jews. He came for fallen sinners. He came for Jews and Gentiles alike. He came for a lost, perishing, sinful world. He came to His own and His own received Him not.

He's from another world. Verse 33, Jesus says, The bread of God is He who came down from heaven. Seven times He says here He came down from heaven in a short dialogue. Can you imagine the puzzlement, the bewildering thoughts, the confusion, the offensiveness?

They heard Him over and over say, I've come from above. The Father has sent me. I'm not from here. He says, I am heavenly bread. Now, look at verse 51. Because He makes another statement and we'll kind of be jumping around here.

But He's bringing out to them who He truly is as the bread of heaven. And first He said that He is heavenly bread, but verse 51, He says it another way. He says, I am the living bread which came down from heaven.

He's telling the Jews He's not only from another place of heavenly origin that God has sent. He says, I'm living bread. I'm the true living bread. You know, physical bread is not living, is it? It's not living.

It only appears to be living. The bread that's bought in the store is more full of preservatives. But fresh, organic bread, it doesn't last as long. So bread, physical bread, the manna, didn't last. They had to gather it every day.

The manna didn't last. Physical bread doesn't last. Just take out a piece of bread, lay it on the counter, and come back in about four weeks. See what it's like. You won't eat it. Why? Because it's moldy?

I mean, leave it for two months and go back and find it. And see what it looks like. Physical bread is not living. It decays. But, Jesus said this heavenly bread that has come down from heaven is living bread.

And He was saying to them, because He declared all the way through here that He was the bread, He's declaring to them that He is a person, the only one who lives forever. All men are dying, not Him. He's living.

He could never die. Death had no claim on Him. Death had no hold on Him. Even when He dies on the cross, He conquers death in His death, and He's alive forevermore. He said, I am He who was dead, and behold, I'm alive forevermore.

And I have the keys of death and of hell. He said, I am the living bread that's come down from heaven. And He's saying, I am the one who possesses life and gives life to all who want to eat. Isn't it amazing that men are dying, you know you're going to die, you know you're dying, and you know you're going to be in eternity, and the only offer, the only source of living forever, you don't want it.

You don't want to eat that bread. You want to eat all other kinds of bread, the bread that perishes, the bread that destroys, the bread that deceives, the bread that poisons. Men want to reject the only bread that's living, and they only want the bread that's dying and that kills.

Verse 33, Jesus speaks to this several places about Him being the living bread. He says, for the bread of God is He who comes down from heaven and gives what? Gives life. This bread gives life because He's the living bread.

Verse 35, Jesus said, I am the bread of what? Of life. I'm the bread of life. Verse 48 through 51, He says this, I am that bread of life. Your fathers ate man in the wilderness and are dead. This is a bread which comes down from heaven that a man may eat, partake of, and not die.

You want to live, really live? I'm getting ahead of myself. Eat this living bread, eat this heavenly bread, this living bread, and when you do, from then on you will never, ever die spiritually. You'll never die.

You'll live forever. Christ is saying, I am the heavenly living bread that is the only source, the only source of true life and eternal life. I am the only giver of life. The only giver of life. Think this morning, all over this world, of what people are grasping for to live.

Think of what they are chasing, trying to enjoy life and preserve life and live long life. There are scientists out there, there are billionaires out there who pay scientists hoping that they can live to be 120 or 150 or 180.

There are Harvard and Princeton professors trying to prove that men can somehow find the key to living forever. But the Bible says, the Lord Jesus Christ says here, He who believes on Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.

He said, whoever believes on Me has everlasting life. He is not only the heavenly bread, He is the living bread. He declares that here. By feeding over 5 ,000 people with physical bread and the fragments that are left over, the 12 basketfuls, maybe that gets used the next day, but it perishes with the using but only the Lord Jesus Christ, the heavenly bread, the true bread, the living bread, gives food, spiritual food in Himself that never dies.

You as a Christian, if you are a believer this morning, you have in you a well of life springing up into everlasting life. You can never die. Your body will shut down and go to sleep and cease to be living and functioning, but the person will never die.

Christ’s Claims and the Certainty of Judgment

Christ, think of all His self-claims about this. Here He says, I am the true bread. I am the living bread. The bread of God is He who comes down and gives life to the world. His self-claims, the claims about Himself.

What did He declare about Himself? I'm the bread of life. I'm the living bread from heaven. Many times He had other claims about Himself. John Ford, the woman at the well. We know when Messiah comes, He will, Jesus says, He who you're speaking to is He.

He's come. I'm Him. He said later, I'm the door by Me if anyone enters in. He said, I'm the way, the truth, and the life. He said, I'm the Good Shepherd. He said, I'm the resurrection and the life. And here He says, I'm the true bread which comes down from heaven.

There is no escaping who Jesus Christ is. There is no avoiding Him. Now, you can avoid Him, you can deny Him, but you can't escape Him. You will never escape Him. You face Him every day because in Him, in the presence of Christ, every living soul lives and moves and has their being.

Acts 17 says, You can avoid Him, you can deny Him, but you cannot escape Him. And when you and I die, we will stand before Him on that great and certain day. You and I have an appointment. And if you're an unbeliever, that should put into you fear and dread and sober reality that you will stand before Christ, the Judge of all the earth, who has been offered already to you as the true bread, the living bread, who can feed your soul and give you eternal life.

And yet you neglected Him, you avoided Him. You denied Him, the true bread of life. Now, next look at verse 53. John 6, 53. And see what else Jesus says about this. Not only that He's the heavenly bread, and that He's the living bread, He says this, You've got to eat this bread.

Look at verse 53. Truly, truly I say unto you, except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you. And then He says, He says in the chapter, This bread is My flesh, My body which I've given for the life of the world.

Eating Christ’s Flesh and Drinking His Blood

But He says it has to be eaten. What does it mean to eat and drink this bread? Now, in verse 31, the Jews brought this up and they said, Moses, He gave them bread to eat. To eat. So bread is for what?

Eating. Food and drink are not for display or decoration, right? What if you went to someone's home, they invited you over, and you walked in and there was a nice, beautiful, probably delicious dinner spread on the table, and they had you sit down in the living room and they start talking, an hour goes by, two hours goes by, you're seeing that dinner in there on the table, and it's just sitting there, and they end the visit, and they say, Well, it was nice having you over, let's walk through the door.

And you walk out and you glance over, that food is still sitting on the dining table you're driving home with, and you say to your mate, Something weird. What's the deal? That food is sitting there. What's it there for?

Food is not for display. It's to eat, right? Only purpose for it is to eat. In a little while, food is going to be laid out in there. We're not going to look at it and then go get in our car and go home.

We're going to eat it. It's there to eat. This heavenly bread, this bread from God, this true bread, this living bread, only came to be eaten. To be taken on. You've seen the bread, some of you. You know the table spread.

You've been invited. You've never eaten. You refuse to eat the banquet that God the Father has sent and spread in His Son, the living bread from Heaven. This heavenly bread, Jesus is saying, came to be partaken of.

He says this from verse 49 -58. Jesus seven times speaks of eating and drinking Him. Seven times He speaks of eating His flesh. Four times He speaks of drinking His blood. Now let's be honest, this is grotesque language, isn't it?

But it's the graphic picture He paints. I mean, when we take food, when you eat food or you drink something, what are you doing? You believe it's for you and you take it and you partake of it personally and it becomes a part of you.

You are what you eat, right? That's what they say. You partake of it and it becomes a part of your body and it becomes life to you. This is the picture Jesus takes. This graphic picture of eating and drinking Him.

For people to get the reality, you've got to partake of Him. He says this eleven times, eating and drinking. He says in verses 51 and 55, I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If any man eat of this bread, and He's pointing to Himself, 55, for my flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed.

Let me just read this again. Just listen to it. Let it soak in. 53 through 58. Notice all the references to it. Except you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in you.

Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life. And I'll raise Him up at the last day. My flesh is meat indeed and my blood is drink indeed. He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood dwells in me and I in Him.

As the Living Father has sent me and I live by the Father, so He that eateth me, even He shall live by me. He that eateth of this bread shall live forever. Astounding words. Unescapable words. Jesus is saying to them, it is essential and mandatory, it is a must, it is non-negotiable to eat my flesh and drink my blood to have eternal life.

So much for praying a short little prayer and giving someone assurance of salvation. So much for someone responding to an altar call and signing a decision card and then being given assurance by people who don't even know them.

So much for just becoming a church member. No, you have to eat Christ and drink Christ. That's what He said. What in the world does that mean? Well, you look through this chapter and the Lord Jesus Christ has already clarified it with different words about how people must relate to Him.

Just perusing back through this, you can look if you want. In verse 35, He uses a word. He says, He who believes on Me shall never thirst. In verse 40, the same phrase. Everyone who sees the Son and believes on Him.

So here, this idea of believing on Him, seeing Him and believing on Him. He says the same thing in verse 47. Truly I say to you, He who believes on Me hath everlasting life. He says it again in verse 64.

But there are some of you who believe not. Every pastor, every preacher on any Sunday morning can stand up and look at the whole congregation and can honestly say, there are some of you who believe not.

And if you have an honest heart, you know who you are. This phrase, this word, used four times by the Lord Jesus, He who believes. He who believes. He who sees and believes. Now He uses another word in here.

Verse 37, He says another word. He says, All that the Father gives Me shall come to Me, and he who comes to Me shall never thirst. He's speaking of coming to Him. First, believing. Now, coming. He says that in verse 37 and 44 and 45 and in verse 65.

So think about this. Eating and drinking is a picture painted, which means seeing Christ for who He is, being honest with the reality of who He is really seeing, honestly who He is, and of taking Him as He's offered and partaking of Him personally as He truly is.

And believing and coming. That's what Jesus means by eating His flesh and drinking His blood. Eating His flesh. What did He say about His flesh? He says, My flesh is my body that I will do what? That I will give for the life of the world.

Christ’s Sacrifice and the Necessity of Faith

Peter said that he himself bore in his body our sins on the tree. So what does it mean to eat His flesh? It means that you realize the offering of the Lord Jesus Christ in His full life, physically on the cross, He laid His body down, laying His whole life down as an offering for sin.

You must partake of that fleshly offering. You must partake of His death in your place. You have to eat it. Make it your own. Partake of it. It doesn't matter what others are eating or not eating. What are you eating?

You've got to partake of the offering of His body for you. That's eating His flesh. Drinking His blood. That's a worse picture, isn't it? Why that language? Because the Bible says without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness of sins.

The Bible says we are justified by His blood. When our Lord Jesus Christ gave His body on the cross and He hung there to die, His precious, human, real, genuine human blood that was spotless flowed out and was poured out as an atoning payment for sin.

You've got to drink that blood. You've got to say in your heart, I only have forgiveness one place. And that was 2 ,000 years ago when that blood, that one atoning payment was shed for the forgiveness of many.

That bloody payment, that blood offering is my only hope of forgiveness. You've got to drink that blood. And Jesus said, unless you eat My flesh and drink My blood, you have no life in you. You're either dead today in your sins or you're alive because you've partaken of His flesh and His blood.

Which is it? What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. What can make me whole within? What can cleanse a sinner's soul? What can wash away your sin record? What can pay for your debt?

Nothing in yourself. Nothing in the earth. Only something outside of yourself. The offering of the blood of Jesus Christ once for all. And so many of you, some of you possibly, for years have just neglected this when in your conscience you know it's true.

Stop it! Throw down your rebellion. Stop your resistance. Stop your refusal. And come to the fountain that's opened for sin and uncleanness. He will wash you. He will cleanse you. He will forgive you.

Why will you die? By refusing His flesh, His death, refusing His blood, the sin offering of the offering of His blood. Why will you refuse that? Why would you go on any longer? You know what else this chapter tells us?

Christ’s Invitation to Come and Dine

This bread's available. Later in John 7, Jesus said, whoever's thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, out of his belly will flow rivers of water. Whoever's thirsty, I got the drink for you.

It will satisfy you forever. I'm the living water. I'm the bread of life. That bread's available. Readily available. And Christ's invitation in this chapter to all who were hearing Him, His words were an invitation.

His words were an offer of Himself as the living bread. He says in verse 35, I'm the bread of life. Whoever comes to Me will never hunger again. Whoever believes in Me will never thirst. That's invitation.

That's offering. That's command. That's drawing. That's saying, I am the true living bread who've come down from Heaven and I am the one source of life for you. Will you take Me? Go back to John 5, 24.

You don't need to turn there, but Jesus said there, He said, truly, the one who hears My Word and believes on Him who sent Me has everlasting life and will not come into condemnation, but is passed from death to life.

Who among us this morning is in the valley and on one side is death and on the other side is life? You've got to pass. If you're going to know Christ, you have to pass from death to life. And knowing Him, partaking of His life and His death and His blood is the only way for that.

And there in John 5, Jesus also, in John 6, I'm sorry, it was in John 5, He says to them already, don't labor, don't go after the meat that perishes. And then they say, well, what shall we do that we might work the works of God?

And what does He say? This is the work of God. John 6, 28 and 29. This is the work of God. This is what you're to do. This is the effort you're to make. This is the contribution you make. This is your responsibility.

Believe. Believe. Believe on Him whom God has sent. Faith and trust alone are all anyone is to do. There's no goodness. There's no merit. There's no effort. There's no obedience. Sometimes when I talk to my grandchildren in the mornings at the house, and we're just talking about the pure Gospel, I'll ask them questions like, I think God wants you to be good to be able to come to Him.